Infant Tylenol recalled; yes, again

Only scant months after finally putting its infant Tylenol offerings back on the barren supermarket shelves, Johnson & Johnson has yanked the product once again.

This time around, the recall was due to a flawed design of the Tylenol bottle — as opposed to the contamination problems that caused millions of bottles of Tylenol and other infant and adult consumer products to be recalled over the past few years — but that doesn’t do much to save J&J’s battered public image.

Long seen as a most trusted maker of consumer baby medications, J&J fell from grace in recent years as it became mired in manufacturing problems at its McNeil Consumer Healthcare business starting in 2009, recalling large lots of Tylenol, Sudafed, Benadryl, and other products as a result.

This weekend’s recall of all infant Tylenol products was blamed on a faulty protective cover intended to allow for more accurate dosing (a result of industry efforts to reduce overdose risks from children’s medications) and fewer spills.

The new and improved design will now be reconsidered due to complaints that the flow restriction cover can break off into the bottle. No reports of injuries were reported due to the flaw, and J&J states that the product is safe to continue to use if the cover remains intact. Refunds will, of course, be issued to those who request one from McNeil.

Whether the company’s faltering consumer trust can be recovered if McNeil continues to have quality issues is another matter altogether.